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Mayor Naheed Nenshi states he fairly used the "Godfather" euphemism to describe a Calgary home builder and his political statements, according to a statement of defence in the defamation lawsuit against the mayor.

Last fall, Shane Homes founder Cal Wenzel sued for $6 million after facing several months of criticism from the mayor, and accusations the building executive admitted to breaking election finance rules.

The mayor has vowed to fight a lawsuit he believes is aimed at silencing his views, and the statement of defence filed in court this weeks argues the case is without "frivolous and vexatious" and should be dismissed.

Developers and home builders, normally the quiet financiers of municipal election campaigns, took a central role in the 2013 Calgary election after a secretly videotaped speech Wenzel made to colleagues went public last spring. In the speech, Wenzel revealed he and others had jointly given $1.1 million to the conservative Manning Centre to help train candidates, urged colleagues to donate the maximum amounts to candidates on "our side," and spoke of non-financial support that Nenshi alleged amounted to illegal excessive contributions.

Wenzel’s lawsuit takes issue with several media comments Nenshi made, but particularly his remark during a CBC interview that the speech seemed like a scene from The Godfather. The mayor’s statement says that no fair-minded person would use that film reference to conclude that Wenzel is involved in a mafia-like group.

"Wenzel, like the ‘godfather,’ is a wealthy and powerful man, who is kind and benevolent to those who give respect and agree with his views, but, ruthless when something stands in his way," according to the statement filed by Nenshi’s lawyer.

The mayor’s legal document alleges that by calling politicians that don’t agree with the builders’ interest as being on the "dark side," Wenzel is either being racist against Nenshi or alluding to the evil characters in the Star Wars series.

Neither the mayor nor his lawyer, Munaf Mohamed, were available for comment Wednesday. Nenshi’s aide said the statement speaks for himself.

In the latest court document, Nenshi’s defence asserts he’s not the only Calgarian to dub Cal Wenzel the godfather. His statement includes a public Twitter message from 2012 by son Shane Wenzel, in which he nicknames his dad "The godfather" while at an industry award ceremony. A woman used the same moniker for the Shane Homes founder in a July 2013 Twitter message from a golf tournament.

Shane Wenzel is president of the company that bears his name. He sat at his father’s side during the builder’s only news conference during this saga, but hasn’t said anything in public about the controversy.

In a bid to underline the fairness of the comment, the mayor’s defence statement refers to what it dubs the "Wenzel Threat" — the builder’s comments to the Calgary Sun that after Nenshi’s criticisms of the videotaped speech, "our family is more resolved than ever to go after him."

Although Wenzel’s lawsuit seeks $6 million in damages, no Canadian judge has ever awarded an amount that high in a defamation suit.

In the lawsuit, filed in November, Wenzel’s lawyer Loran Halyn claims the builder has been "injured in his feelings, in his personal and professional character and reputation, and in his office, profession, trade or business." It also sites the CEO’s "emotional distress and humiliation."

Nenshi’s statement of defence says Wenzel has failed to explain how the allegedly defamatory comments hurt the business of Wenzel or Shane Homes. The document uses city statistics to show that Shane Homes’ share of all the city’s single-family home building permits in 2013 was 6.2 per cent, up from 2012 but lower than 2011’s proportion.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. It’s not known when this defamation case will go to trial, and neither side has discussed publicly their interest in settling out of court.

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